[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 241 (Thursday, December 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78755-78758]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31213]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Notice of Initial Determination Revising the List of Products 
Requiring Federal Contractor Certification as to Forced/Indentured 
Child Labor Pursuant to Executive Order 13126

AGENCY: Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: This initial determination proposes to revise the list 
required by Executive Order No. 13126 (``Prohibition of Acquisition of 
Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor''), in accordance 
with the Department of Labor's ``Procedural Guidelines for the 
Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal Contractor 
Certification as to Forced or Indentured

[[Page 78756]]

Child Labor.'' This notice proposes to add a product, (along with its 
country of origin) to the list that the Department of Labor 
preliminarily believes might have been mined, produced, or manufactured 
by forced or indentured child labor. This notice also proposes to 
remove a product (along with its country of origin) from the list 
where, preliminarily, the Department of Labor has reason to believe 
that the use of forced or indentured child labor has been significantly 
reduced if not eliminated. The Department of Labor invites public 
comment on this initial determination. The Department will consider all 
public comments prior to publishing a final determination updating the 
list of products, made in consultation and cooperation with the 
Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security.

DATES: Information should be submitted to the Office of Child Labor, 
Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT) via one of the methods 
described below by 5 p.m., February 15, 2011.
    To Submit Information, or for Further Information, Contact: 
Information submitted to the Department should be submitted directly to 
OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor 
at (202) 693-4843 (this is not a toll free number). Comments, 
identified as ``Docket No. DOL-2010-0005,'' may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
The portal includes instructions for submitting comments. Parties 
submitting responses electronically are encouraged not to submit paper 
copies.
     Facsimile (fax): OCFT at 202-693-4830.
     Mail, Express Delivery, Hand Delivery, and Messenger 
Service (2 copies): Brandie Sasser at U.S. Department of Labor, OCFT, 
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Room S-5317, Washington, DC 20210.
     E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    On June 12, 1999, President Clinton signed Executive Order No. 
13126 (EO 13126), which was published in the Federal Register on June 
16, 1999 (64 FR 32383). EO 13126 declared that it was ``the policy of 
the United States Government * * * that the executive agencies shall 
take appropriate actions to enforce the laws prohibiting the 
manufacture or importation of good, wares, articles, and merchandise 
mined, produced or manufactured wholly or in part by forced or 
indentured child labor.'' Pursuant to EO 13126, and following public 
notice and comment, the Department of Labor published in the January 
18, 2001, Federal Register, a list of products (the ``List'') (along 
with their respective countries of origin) that the Department, in 
consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State and Treasury 
(relevant responsibilities now within the Department of Homeland 
Security), had a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, 
produced or manufactured with forced or indentured child labor (66 FR 
5353). The Department also published on January 18, 2001, ``Procedural 
Guidelines for Maintenance of the List of Products Requiring Federal 
Contractor Certification as to Forced or Indentured Child Labor'' 
(Procedural Guidelines), which provide guidelines on the maintenance, 
review, and as appropriate, revision of the List (66 FR 5351).
    The Procedural Guidelines provide that the List may be updated 
through considerations of submissions by individuals and on the 
Department's own initiative. In either event, when proposing to update 
the List, the Department of Labor must publish in the Federal Register 
a notice of initial determination, which includes any proposed 
alteration to the List. The Department will consider all public 
comments prior to the publication of a final determination of an 
updated list, which is made in consultation and cooperation with the 
Departments of State and Homeland Security.
    On January 18, 2001, pursuant to Section 3 of the EO 13126, the 
Federal Acquisition Regulatory Councils published a final rule to 
implement specific provisions of EO 13126 that requires, among other 
things, that federal contractors who supply products that appear on the 
List issued by the Department certify to the contracting officer that 
the contractor, or, in the case of an incorporated contractor, a 
responsible official of the contractor, has made a good faith effort to 
determine whether forced or indentured child labor was used to mine, 
produce or manufacture any product furnished under the contract and 
that, on the basis of those efforts, the contractor is unaware of any 
such use of child labor. See 48 CFR Subpart 22.15.
    On September 11, 2009, the Department of Labor published an initial 
determination in the Federal Register proposing to update the List to 
include 29 products from 21 countries. The Notice requested public 
comments for a period of 90 days. Public comments were received and 
reviewed by all relevant agencies, and a final determination was issued 
on July 20, 2010 that included all products proposed in the initial 
determination except for carpets from India. (75 FR 42164).
    The current List and the Procedural Guidelines can be accessed on 
the Internet at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/regs/eo13126/main.htm or can be 
obtained from: OCFT, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-
5317, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC 20210; telephone: (202) 693-4843; fax (202) 693-4830.

II. Definition of Forced/Indentured Child Labor

    Under Section 6(c) of EO 13126:
    ``Forced or indentured child labor'' means all work or service--
    (1) Exacted from any person under the age of 18 under the menace of 
any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not 
offer himself voluntarily; or
    (2) Performed by any person under the age of 18 pursuant to a 
contract the enforcement of which can be accomplished by process or 
penalties.

Information Sought

    The Department is requesting public comment on the revisions to the 
List proposed below, as well as any other issue related to the fair and 
effective implementation of EO 13126. This notice is a general 
solicitation of comments from the public. All submitted comments will 
be made a part of the public record and will be available for 
inspection and on www.regulations.gov.
    In conducting research for this initial determination, the 
Department considered a wide variety of materials originating from its 
own research, other U.S. Government agencies, foreign governments, 
international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 
U.S. Government-funded technical assistance and field research 
projects, academic research, independent research, media, and other 
sources. The Department of State and U.S. embassies and consulates 
abroad also provide important information by gathering data from 
contacts, conducting site visits, and reviewing local media sources. 
Further, for this initial determination, the Department sought 
additional information from the public through a call for information 
published in the Federal Register on February 24, 2010.
    In developing the revised List, the Department's review focused on 
available information concerning the

[[Page 78757]]

use of forced or indentured child labor. The lack of available 
information does not, by itself, establish that, in any particular 
country, or for any particular product, forced or indentured child 
labor is not being used. Government resources for acquiring information 
are limited. In addition, information about actual working conditions 
in some countries is difficult or impossible to obtain, for a variety 
of reasons. For example, governments are unable or unwilling to 
cooperate with international efforts, or with the efforts of NGOs, to 
uncover and address abuses. Institutions or organizations that might 
uncover such information, such as free and independent news media, 
trade unions, and NGOs also may not exist.
    As outlined in the Procedural Guidelines, several factors were 
weighed in determining whether or not a product should be placed on the 
revised List: The nature of the information describing the use of 
forced or indentured child labor; the source of the information; the 
date of the information; the extent of corroboration of the information 
by appropriate sources; whether the information involved more than an 
isolated incident; and whether recent and credible efforts are being 
made to address forced or indentured child labor in a particular 
country and industry.
    This notice constitutes the initial determination updating the EO 
13126 list issued July 20, 2010. Based on recent, credible, and 
appropriately corroborated information from various sources, the 
Departments of Labor, State, and Homeland Security have preliminarily 
concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that the 
following product, identified by its country of origin, might have been 
mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor:

Product: Hand-Woven Textiles
Country: Ethiopia

    In addition, the Departments of Labor, State, and Homeland Security 
have preliminarily concluded that there is no longer a reasonable basis 
to believe that the use of forced or indentured child labor in the 
production of the following product, identified by its country of 
origin:

Product: Charcoal
Country: Brazil

    After the July 2010 update to the List, the Department of Labor 
received recent, credible, and appropriately corroborated information 
from various sources on the use of forced or indentured child labor in 
charcoal production in Brazil. This information indicates that while 
children previously worked under forced labor conditions in charcoal 
production, there is no longer a reasonable basis the problem has been 
significantly reduced if not eliminated. Therefore, the Departments of 
Labor, State, and Homeland Security have preliminarily concluded that 
there is no longer a reasonable basis to believe that charcoal from 
Brazil is produced by forced or indentured child labor and therefore it 
should not continue to be on the List.
    The Government of Brazil has developed a comprehensive approach to 
combat forced labor, including forced child labor, that includes robust 
policies and legislation, strong enforcement efforts, allocation of 
financial resources, and programs to assist victims of forced labor. 
For example, legislation requires fines and imprisonment of four to 
twelve years for the use of forced child labor, and the Government 
provides financial and employment assistance to victims of forced 
labor. The Government is currently implementing its Second National 
Plan to Combat Forced Labor and also has established a National 
Agreement to Eradicate Forced Labor, which involves more than 130 
parties whose efforts are monitored and tracked online. Brazil also 
publishes a ``Dirty List'' (Lista Suja) of forced labor cases, 
including the names of companies and property owners who employ workers 
under forced labor conditions. The Government has created a Special 
Mobile Inspection Unit (GEFM) at the Ministry of Labor and Employment 
(MTE), which performs on-site investigations of forced labor cases. 
GEFM is composed of teams of labor inspectors, Labor Public Ministry 
attorneys, and members of the National Police. Currently, more than 100 
labor inspectors are part of this inspection unit. To resolve such 
cases, GEFM has the right to initiate formal charges, to settle the 
complaint at the scene of the crime, and to levy fines. Such fines are 
used to enhance enforcement efforts, undertake preventative efforts, 
and to provide services to forced labor victims, including children.
    In response to being placed on the List, the Government of Brazil 
provided additional information to the Department of Labor on the 
status of forced or indentured child labor in charcoal production. The 
information included disaggregated data that indicates that, from 
January 2007 to September 2010, the MTE conducted 1,924 labor 
inspections in 23 states and found no child under 18 working under 
forced labor conditions in charcoal production. The MTE's public Web 
site shows that from January 2007 to August 2010, the GEFM conducted 
499 investigations of forced labor cases, inspected 1,025 businesses, 
and rescued more than 16,000 workers from forced labor conditions. 
While the Government collects data in a disaggregated manner, 
information made publicly available on the Web site is not 
disaggregated by age or sector.
    To corroborate the Brazilian Government's data that indicated no 
evidence of forced child labor in charcoal production, the Department 
accessed information publicly available since the end of the previous 
research period (2008-2010) and spoke with a number of stakeholders 
actively engaged in forced labor issues in the charcoal sector. These 
sources, which included the International Labor OrganizaILO, Reporter 
Brasil, the Citizens' Charcoal Institute (ICC), and the Pastoral Land 
Commission (CPT), indicate that forced child labor in the production of 
charcoal has been significantly reduced if not eliminated. Both the CPT 
and ICC provided monitoring data to support these claims, although the 
CPT data differs slightly from the Government's data. The CPT, which 
receives complaints of forced labor cases, carries out independent 
forced labor monitoring and also refers cases to the GEFM, reported 
that from June 2008 to August 2010, it submitted five complaints of 
forced labor in charcoal to MTE that involved 76 victims, including 10 
children. Thus, while it appears that there continue to be isolated 
cases of forced child labor, the Government has established mechanisms 
to address and respond to such cases. The ICC, which independently 
monitors labor conditions in charcoal enterprises in the states of 
Par[aacute], Maranh[atilde]o, Tocantins, and Piau[iacute], has carried 
out 2,793 inspections in 158 municipalities, registered 145,917 
charcoal kilns, and reached out to more than 52,000 charcoal workers. 
It found no evidence of forced child labor in these businesses.
    According to information obtained, factors driving the reduction in 
forced child labor in the charcoal industry have included increased 
government enforcement, government collaboration with civil society, 
awareness-raising among workers, and monitoring systems put in place by 
companies in the pig iron/charcoal supply chain.
    It is important to note that information obtained by the Department 
indicates that adult forced labor and child labor that is not forced is 
still occurring in the production of charcoal. Therefore, while the 
Department is proposing to remove charcoal from Brazil from the EO 
13126 List, it will continue to be included on The

[[Page 78758]]

Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced 
Labor.
    The Department invites public comment on whether these products 
(and/or other products, regardless of whether they are mentioned in 
this Notice) should be included on or removed from the revised List of 
products requiring federal contractor certification as to the use of 
forced or indentured child labor. To the extent possible, comments 
provided should address the criteria for inclusion of a product on the 
List contained in the Procedural Guidelines discussed above. The 
Department is also interested in public comments relating to whether 
products initially determined to be on the List are designated with 
appropriate specificity and whether alternative designations would 
better serve the purposes of EO 13126.
    The bibliography providing the preliminary basis for adding hand-
woven textiles from Ethiopia on the List and additional documentation 
on the removal of charcoal from Brazil are available on the Internet at 
http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/regs/eo13126/main.htm.
    As explained, following receipt and consideration of comments on 
the revised List set out above, the Department of Labor, in 
consultation and cooperation with the Departments of State Homeland 
Security, will issue a final determination in the Federal Register. The 
Department of Labor intends to continue to revise the List 
periodically, to add and/or delete products, as justified by new 
information.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 8th day of December, 2010.
Sandra Polaski,
Deputy Undersecretary, Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2010-31213 Filed 12-15-10; 8:45 am]
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